Simon came from London to the U.S. to work at a summer camp. At the counselors’ meeting, the camp director asked if anyone knew how to shoot .22 rifles. Simon had learned to shoot at scout camp and he’d earned his riflery merit badge. He got the job as head rifle instructor. A week later, a Yank canoeing instructor who had been a counselor at the camp the previous summer, said that the canoe pond was almost beyond the rifle range and just past the cornfield, and “if you want our attention, just aim for the brass bell on the post next to the canoe shack. Plink it. Last year’s rifle instructor did it all the time.”

The Brit took the Yank’s word for it, although he shouldn’t have. One morning he tried it with one long rifle round. At lunch, another Brit came up to him, white-faced, saying a bullet had struck the post six inches from his head, just below the bell. “Don’t do it again. I’ll not tell anyone, but I won’t be your friend.”

Even smart folks can be misled in strange directions, against all common sense, and played for a fool. There were two fools in this near unlucky game – the Yank canoeist for seeing danger as sport, and the Brit rifleman for listening and acting without thought.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, don’t let us be led astray, and stop us before we lead another astray. Teach us wisdom and right action. Amen.

A Thought from Proverbs: Doing wrong is like sport to a fool, while wise conduct is a pleasure to the wise.